Hi there folks, how are you all doing? Hope all is good in your worlds.
It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, running around all over the place training and attending meetings which so often seem to be held for the sake of holding them, rather than actively working towards or demonstrating any real or tangible outcomes for children and young people. Maybe I just should call them what they are – talking shops?!
I head counted last week at a seminar I attended – there were forty people there all on middle to senior management salaries. It must have cost a good couple of thousand pounds for us all to sit there hearing what we had heard before and enjoying a good lunch afterwards. But hey, it ticked someone’s box.
Talking of which, I recently attended a conference where some young people spoke about their experiences of being looked after. Unlike previous experiences, this wasn’t just a box ticking exercise – the young people were on after the morning break, and not at the end of the day when everyone was rushing for trains. Fair play to the organisers.
Now I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I truly believe that adults need training to work with young people, and not always the other way round. And on this occasion I was proved right yet again.
The youngsters sat at the front of the auditorium among the great and the good, looking nervous about their imminent presentations.
‘What brings you here then?’ enquired one bouffanted doyen. ‘Are you doing this as part of your school work?’
‘No’, replied one the young people, ‘We’re working today.’ The woman hooted loudly. ‘Oh, you call this work do you?’ The young people looked at her incredulously. ‘Yes, it IS work – we’re here to give a presentation.’ ‘Oh, bless’ she smiled indulgently, then turned to the person next to her and started another conversation. The young people looked nonplussed.
When they were introduced, the audience broke into applause. The woman turned to the person next to her and smirked ‘They may consider this work, but they’ve a lot to learn about the world.’
What she didn’t understand was that the young people had taken part in intensive training on presentation skills and public speaking and that they were part of a properly funded children in care council which, among other tasks enables young people to interview staff, attend meetings and mentor younger children in care.
The young people were fantastic and really spoke from the heart about their experiences of being looked after. As they left the stage and took their seats again, I could see the woman had been taken aback by their stories, but also by their skills and confidence. It takes a lot for anyone to get up and speak in front of an audience, especially when most members of that audience have probably never been near a child in some time.
It reminded me that young people are to really feel valued then we have to find ways of working with them that makes them feel like their input and views are taken as seriously as those of a head of service. That way we could hold our heads up and honestly state that every child does matter.